Believe
by Unsuspected
Summary: It's hard to believe when things are so uncertain. Sometimes it helps to have someone there for you.


Juniper stared at him. Grover was so silly sometimes. He was always so nervous and hesitant. It really did get annoying. He would always look at her for a minute, as if he wanted to say something important, but then he would turn away so quickly and embarrassedly that it caused her always to wonder what was on his mind. It always bothered the dryad. He never made any sense. She loved him.

Grover stole a glance at the nymph. She was adorable. Her pointed ears, kind smile, and bright eyes would always make him sick with nervousness. Why did she always do this to him? Momentarily she met his eyes and he nearly passed out. She always had such an effect on him. It was terribly irritating, like those bunnies who were always stealing his celery. It wouldn't go away. He loved her. Not that he would ever work up the courage to tell her that.

The forest seemed very quiet today, like every nymph in camp was asleep with her being the only exception, Juniper noted. Then there was rustling, screechy reed-pipe music, and the faint rhythm of hooves coming closer. It was most likely a satyr was wandering around the woods looking for a dryad to chase. He came into sight: shorter than most satyrs, curly brown hair that partially hid his horns, and a look as innocent as a child's on is face. It was none other than Grover Underwood.

He blushed. "Hi, Juniper. How are you?" Amazingly enough, Grover had spoken to her.

She had forgotten she was out of her tree form. "I'm fine, I guess. How are you? Is your quest for Pan going all right?"

"Uh, I'm fine." He was not impressed with his own social skills. "I'm doing my best looking for Pan. I mean, I'm still alive, so it can't be going too poorly."

She smiled warmly. "I heard there was more," she informed him. "Is there? Did you really—"

His face brightened, but turned a more noticeable shade of pink. "Yeah, I did. He, uh, said 'I await you.' Through coffee. And I, um, fainted. But, anyway, I felt his presence. It was so strong there. I couldn't believe it."

"Grover, that's great!" She paused a moment. "You heard him! You hear Pan! You'll be the one to find him, Grover, I know it."

He frowned for a second, and later returned to his grin. "Well, I hope so," he said. "Hopefully I will before my deadline."

"You will," she stated firmly.

Grover didn't seem to be convinced of this. "Why do you think I will?" he asked. His voice clearly had doubt in it.

"Well, you're brave—"

He snorted. "Yeah, right. I'm so brave, I just don't show it. I mean, oh, please. Big, scary monsters? Psh. I can handle them," he said sarcastically. "I'm just about the bravest satyr there was."

"Seriously," she protested, "you _are_ brave."

He smiled, but said nothing.

"And you're strong, smart—" Once again the dryad was cut off.

"You must be thinking of my two friends, Percy and Annabeth. I'm guessing you know them. They're sort of famous around here. Everyone's always talking about them. Especially the Aphrodite cabin, gods, you should hear them—well, that's not our business. It's not actually theirs either, but that's aside from the point, a whole new topic all together that, as I mentioned before, has nothing to do with us. I mean, they seem to be the buzz these days. You see, I'm just the sidekick. I don't do much. I just sort of offer moral support and tell them if I smell anything out of the ordinary, maybe just sit around for the ride."

She ignored him. "Plus, you're kind, loyal, and trustworthy. You're a good friend, with a good heart. You are the chosen one of Pan," Juniper finished confidently. She meant every last thing she said, and would have added more if he wanted to listen.

"Gee, Juniper. I wish you were right about all of that. I mean, I want to believe that, but I'm kind of losing hope. I only have a little longer left before the Council takes away my Searcher's License. Once that's gone my search is over, and I'll have to be some ridiculous puppeteer, a tap-dancer, or something equally terrible," he concluded sadly.

"Why haven't you?" she asked delicately. "Why haven't you given up hope?"

"I can't, Juniper. It's just that simple. I can't lose hope. Some part of me has to hold onto things like that. A bit of me has to believe Pan chose me. I need to."

"I believe in you."

"Thanks—"

She hugged him and disappeared into her tree. He'd be able to tell her soon enough.

"—I really appreciate that. I love you."

That was part of the novelty of being a tree. Sometimes no one realized you could hear them just as well as anyone else could.

With a whisper she replied, "I love you, you silly goat."

Grover heard. Once again, being a satyr came in handy more than was ever predictable. His well trained ears could make out her words clearly and they were as perfect as they ever could be, if not more, because it was so much more natural than a regular exchange of the words. Neither ever knew that the other had heard, but both felt ten times better than they had before their conversation. That was the beauty of it.

And Grover knew he would _never _stop believing. Juniper was always going to be there to help him.

* * *

**A/N: This is ish. For some reason I prefer death scenes. Ha-ha. I sound so dark. But, honestly, I do think that I do better with those. It wasn't really ever a Sonfic for "Don't Stop Believin'" but it started to sound like it. It was insired by one of my "It's one in the morning. What am I supposed to do?" moments. But that sucked. So I would't dare post it here. It was a disgrace. I'm serious. But I sort of liked the main focus of it, so I changed it up and got this, which actually has a point to it. Yeah, I did need to throw in a little Percy/Annabeth with my Grover/Juniper because as far as PJO pairings are concerned the only other thing I could add to make it better is Chris/Clarisse, but that wouldn't really fit with what time this is set in. I seriously felt the need to include it, though. I added it during editing. I might have taken something out just to have it. Nice, huh? You're glad to know I have my priorities straight. Just like I moved this special framed artwork I spent hours doing to the great unknown so I'd have space for my Harry Potter calendar and my Firebolt. If you were curious, I chose to write about this because I have seen about one FF about Grover and Juniper. I felt the need to write one. I _tried, _but most likely failed epically on making the characters IC. To end my rant, I appreciate you reading! Thanks a million!  
-Lexi**


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